Looking For Pitching Help

With the start of baseball’s free agency now underway, and everyone and their brother knowing the Milwaukee Brewers need starting pitching help, here’s a list of some of the targets being associated with the organization.

This isn’t a rundown of who the Brewers should be going after nor is it a list of players the team is negotiating with. It simply attempts to be a starting point and central location for players whose names have been tied to the Brewers in some way, shape or form.

• Jarrod Washburn–Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports confirms Washburn is considering a return to baseball after “retiring” after the 2009 season. Washburn, himself, even comments that the Brewers would be a “good fit” for him. Kyle Lobner of Brew Crew Ball can foresee an incentive-laden deal with an opt out clause, although Jim Breen of Bernie’s Crew and James Langrehr of the Brewers Bar have already been vocally against such a move.
• Jorge De La Rosa–Kevin Davidoff of Newsday thinks the Brewers will land De La Rosa in free agency, listing him as the 21st on the list of the best prospects on the market. The former Brewer (who spent time in Milwaukee from 2004-2006) is also listed by Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman as a potential free agent bust.
• Zach Greinke, Rich Harden–Ryan Fagan of the Sporting News names Greinke as a potential trade target or Harden as an option in free agency.Kevin Correia–The righty from San Diego is linked to the Brewers by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors, saying he’s a back of the rotation option. Note that general manager Doug Melvin inquired about Correia a year ago.
• Vin Mazzaro, Hisashi Iwakuma, Dallas Braden, Trevor Cahill–The Oakland A’s have won the bidding to negotiate with Iwakuma, one of the best pitchers in Japan. The addition of the right-hander may allow the A’s to then trade some of their surplus pitching for a bat. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports names Casey McGehee as a possibility. Langrehr goes as far as suggesting a Prince Fielder trade for a Braden or Cahill.
• Cliff Lee–Cliff Lee may very well be in the “fuggedaboutit” category, but the Brewers have been singled out as a team that’s interested by Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

Note: After being named editor of Maple Street Press Brewers Annual, I thought it would be wise to increase my Brewers presence in the blogosphere and am happy to be doing so here at PocketDoppler. I hope you come back often.

Tags: Cliff Lee, Jarrod Washburn, Jorge De La Rosa, Rich Harden, trade, Zach Greinke